HOW TRUE THE `MOON'?

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

On Wednesday, "Man on the Moon," the film bio of renegade comic Andy Kaufman, opens. The movie's title comes from the 1992 R.E.M. song of the same name. The question is: How much of the song is about Kaufman and how much is nonsense? Here is a footnoted guide to the first two stanzas.

`Man on the Moon'

Mott the Hoople1 and the Game of Life.2 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.3

Andy Kaufman in the wrestling 4 match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Monopoly, Twenty one, checkers, and chess.5 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mister Fred Blassie 6 in a breakfast mess.7 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's play Twister, let's play Risk.8 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

See you in heaven 9 if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch? 10 Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis? 11 Hey, baby. Are we losing touch? 12

If you believed they put a man on the moon, 13 man on the moon.

If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool. 14

1. A 1970s British rock band; their biggest hit was "All the Young Dudes." No apparent connection to Kaufman.

2. Milton Bradley, a Massachusetts lithographer, introduced the Game of Life in 1860. Kaufman was an avid prankster, but there's no evidence he was an avid board game player.

3. Kaufman was polite, especially as Foreign Man, and usually said, "yes," rather than "yeah." This is simply lazy songwriting.

4. As a child, Kaufman was a good wrestler. As an entertainer, he wrestled women and declared himself as "The Intergender Wrestling Champion of the World."

5. Again, apparently no connection between Kaufman and board games of any sort.

6. Blassie was a professional wrestler who made the novelty song "Pencil-Neck Geek."

7. Kaufman's last film was "My Breakfast With Blassie," a satire of the 1981 film "My Dinner With Andre," in which Kaufman and Blassie eat at a Los Angeles Sambo's restaurant and discuss wrestling, politics, food and hygiene.

8. Risk is a board game. Kaufman, who may have played it, took many risks with his career, veering between reality and fiction.

10. "Locked in the punch," an odd phrasing, seems to refer to wrestling, boxing and comedy, elements that Kaufman blended into a dangerous stew. Once, for instance, he was slapped across the face by wrestler Jerry Lawler on "Late Night With David Letterman."

11. Kaufman had idolized and impersonated Elvis since he was a child. One of his most enduring acts was his dead-on take of Elvis. He also wrote a "novel" based on Presley's life, titled "God."

12. Many observers, including friends, have said that Kaufman had lost touch with reality.

13. A reference to hoaxes (did a man really land on the moon?); many of Kaufman's acts were hoaxes (staged fights, arguments). One hoax Kaufman had toyed with was faking his own death.

14. So, if you don't believe in trickery or sleight of hand, then you won't believe that Andy Kaufman has pulled the greatest comedic hoax ever.

Sources: "Lost in the FUnhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman," Tribune files.